Trailing Robin
by dwight schrutte
Summary: Zatanna follows robin through gotham when hes supposed to be on a mission with bats, is he hiding something from her? (im a horrible writrer, but im stuck at home injured and bored so why not)


"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you to the tube? It's getting pretty late and i don't exactly live in the best part of Gotham."

"I'll be fine, I am a superhero after all"

Zatanna and Artemis giggled as the magician got ready to head back to the cave. They had spent the day shopping and getting lunch. They spent most of that time talking about a certain speedster and boy wonder. They were both getting a little impatient waiting for the supposed fearless heroes to ask them out on dates, and decided to take matters into their own hands. Robin was on a secret mission with Batman tonight and Aqualad was spending the next few days in Atlantis, so Zatanna was going to help Artemis with her plan tonight by making sure M'gann and Conner were out of the cave and that Wally was there alone, Artemis would help her with her plan later on once Robin isn't on a mission.

" Ok, i'll be at the cave in a couple hours, i'll let you know when i'm coming so that you can tell me if i'm to early or something." Artemis said

"sounds like a plan, but it should be easy to get them out. Megan loves going out on dates and Conner just does whatever she says. Just need to mention what new movies our out and they should be gone." Zatanna said with a laugh "Better get going though"

Zatanna makes her way towards the zeta tube to put their plan in action. She makes it to the old phone booth and is about to open the door, but as she reaches out she sees the flash of yellow light ad the computer announce Robins name. She jumps to the side and hides behind a dumpster.

'He's supposed to be on a mission with Batman, why is he here? and in his civvies?' Zatanna thought 'Is he trying to avoid me?'

When the boy wonder stepped out of the booth he looked around real quick and started to walk out of the alley. He stopped when his pone started to ring and answered it.

"hey Wally whats up?... just Zeta'd to Gotham, but we can meet up later, maybe an hour or so... No, no mission, just going to see... them... Ya, just a quick visit, been a rough couple of weeks. Hey by the way if your going to the cave, I ran into Zatanna earlier and had to tell her i was on a special mission with Batman, so if she or anyone else asks. Cool thanks man, i'll call you on my way back... later" He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket and started to walk out of the alley.

'He lied to me?' Zatanna thought crushed at the idea of Robin keeping more secrets then just his name from her.

'who could he be going to see that he needs to keep it a secret?'

She decided to use her tracking skills that shes been learning from Robin. At first her way of getting to spend some time with him and flirt with him a little so he'd get the hint she likes him, but they came in handy faster then she thought. She started following him down the street to see who he could possibly be meeting that he needed to lie to her.

He walked down the streets of Gotham, hands in his pocket, head down, seeming sad almost. He stopped at a flower shop and walked in. Zatanna whispered a quick spell to be able to hear Robin and the man behind the counter.

"hey kid, the usual?" the man asked

"No its just a quick visit today" Robin responded "just a simple dozen"

"you got it kid" he replied. "these ok?

"perfect shes going to love them" Robin says happily "just put it on my tab."

"you got it kid"

'She?' Zatanna was crushed. he's going to see another girl, and bringing her flowers. she watched as he came out of the shop and started walking down the street again. she started following again, even though she didn't want to. She didn't want to see the look on this other girls face when he handed her those beautiful flowers. She didn't want to see the smile on his face when she took them and hugged him and kissed his cheek like she would if he handed them to her. But she kept following.

10 minutes later, they came to Robins destination. Gotham cemetery. 'why is he meeting a girl here?' she thought. 'or is he just taking a shortcut?'

they walked among the rows of tombstones and as she looked around she could help but feel a little down. She knows that a lot of these graves are people that the Joker has put there. Robin has told her numerous stories about how he and Batman weren't always fast enough or good enough to stop his plans, and that is why he trains so hard all the time. He must take this shortcut to remind himself or to motivate himself when times get tough for him. After a while, she notices he's come to a stop in front of a large pair of tombstones. 'Mary Grayson, Beloved Wife and Mother' 'John Grayson, Beloved husband and Father'. She noticed a design on each tombstone that looked like an acrobat flying through the air and couldn't help but notice it looked like Robin when he's flying through the air on missions. She wondered who this couple was and why Robin was visiting their grave sights. She looked at the dates on the stone and noticed they died the same day. were they victims from one of Robins stories? She turned her attention to Robin and noticed he had started crying as he went down to one knee and just stared at the graves. Seeing this Zatanna felt bad for trailing Robin all day and intruding on this private moment. she decided to leave until she saw Robin take his glasses off, she was immediately glued to that spot. She couldn't see his face, but she was close.

"your tracking skills need some work Zee?

She squealed at the sound of Robin calling her out. How long has he known that she was following him? was he mad?

"You going to come out? I want to introduce you"

She came out from behind the tree she was hiding behind and slowly made her way to him, worried if she came to fast she might scare him into retreating behind his glasses again.

"How long have you known i was fallowing you? She asked

"Since the alley" he said with a small chuckle

"Seriously? why didn't you say anything?" She said suprised

"I was taking notes on your tracking skills" he joked "plus I wanted there to be no more secrets between us"

She was shocked as he said that turning around to show her his face. The sorrow from before almost all gone and his usual smirk had a small smile in its place, that she couldn't help but return. He also has the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen and couldn't help wonder why Batman was so insistent on him hiding them away from the world.

"My name is Richard Grayson" He said snapping her out of her thoughts. "but i prefer being called Dick"

"Dick Grayson" she repeated with a smile.

"Yep, I've wanted to tell you for a while. Batman told me it was okay and i wanted to do it in a special way, not like when i just took my mask off to tell Wally." He said with a smile

"Wait Wally knows? How has he kept his big mouth shut this whole time?" She says shocked

"Honestly, thats the one mystery me and Batman havent been able to crack" he says laughing.

"Wait, Grayson... so are these...?" she says trailing off before looking at the graves.

"My parents?.. ya" he said looking down sadness in his eyes "Come on, I want to introduce you"

"are you sure?" she said timidly

"Ya.. Zatanna, this is my mom and dad, Mary and John Grayson. The founders of the Flying Graysons"

"The Flying Graysons?" she asked

"Yeah, we were an acrobat group in Haleys Circus. It was them, me and my aunt uncle and cousin. We were the main attraction of the circus, and our big finale was to do our routine without the safety nets. One night while performing here in Gotham, a crime boss named Tony Zucco was trying to get protection money from the circus leader Jack Haley. When he refused to pay up, Zucco sabotaged the trapezes for our performance. I was only 8 so my parents wouldnt let me perform without nets. so i watched from the center pole platform like usual. In the middle of the routine the trapeze bars gave out and i watched my family fall to their death. my uncle somehow survived, but was paralyzed from the neck down. Batman was in the audience that night. He helped me bring in Zucco and his brothers and after that he adopted me. He's saved my life in more ways then i can say. He paid to have my parents buried here so i can visit there graves as much as i want."

She couldnt believe what she had just heard. How could he go through so much in just 14 short years. How can he sit there and console her on a near nightly basis as she cries about her father becoming Dr. fate. Her father was at least still alive, he's not in control of his own body anymore, and his psyche is all alone in that stupid helmet. But she has a shot at seeing her father again at some point, but Robin can only see these slabs of rock with his parents names on them. How has someone at such a young age see something so horrific and end up the happy young kid she has come to love spending her time with.

"Zee?" Robin said cutting off her thoughts.

"What?" she said coming back to reality

"I asked if you wanted to lay down the flowers?"

"You want me to lay down the flowers?" she said surprised and happy at the same time.

"If you want" he said with a grin on his face

Zatanna stepped forward to grab the bundle of roses from Dick. Once she had them in her hand, Dick walked over and pulled the built in vase from in front of his mothers tombstone. She moves forward timidly to put the flowers in the vase. She was so nervous that she was shaking.

"Zee, relax" Robin chuckled

The sound of him laughing calmed her down and she placed the flowers in the vase and backed up next to Dick.

"Mom, Dad, this is Zatanna. The girl I've been telling you about." Dick said

'He's been talking about me? And to such important people too' Zatanna blushed fiercely at the thought

"you want to talk to them?" Dick said

"Um sure.." Zatanna said nerviously

"Just be yourself, they would have loved you" He said causing her to blush even more

"Um hello Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, its an honor to be here and to be able to speak to you. You did an amazing job raising such a young gentleman. You'd be proud of all that Dick has done to save people and keep them safe."

She backed up to stand next to Dick, who was now blushing as much as Zatanna at her words. He smiled at her and grabbed her hand, causing a small squeak from Zatanna, and then a large sweet smile as she squeezed his hand a little and moved closer to the boy wonder.

"Alright mom and dad, this was just a quick visit but I'll be back soon, Or maybe i should say we." Dick said with a laugh

Zatanna just smiled and squeezed his hand pulled closer to let him know he was correct.

"We're going to go get dinner now though, so good night. I love and miss you both."

Zatanna was so shocked at was Robin had said she didnt even notice that they had turned to walk out of the cemetery. Did he just ask me out on a date? He didnt really ask though. should she say someting? Shes obviously going to say yes but still.

"Zee?"

"Sorry.. zoned out" She said snapped back to focus

"I asked where you wanted to go to eat?" Robin said with a laugh

"Are you asking me on a date boy wonder?" She said realizing she was still holding his hand

"I am, cant let yours and Artemis' plan go through" he joked

"How did you know about that?" she said surprised

"I heard you guys scheming at the mall, I had my glasses off so you guys didnt even notice i was right behind you, ninja skills help too." he says laughing

"Well we had to do something, You and Wally were taking forever." Zatanna said with a giggle "Oh wait"

"What?"

Zatanna turns around and goes back to the tombstones. "I forgot to say good bye"

"Good night Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, and dont worry, I'll do my best to keep Dick safe and happy."

She caught up to Dick and looked at him "Alight lets go" she said with a smile. He smiled to her and bent down and kissed her on the cheek. she blushed harder then before and put her hand to her cheek smiling ear to ear.

"Thanks" Robin says "So how about pizza, there's a great place around the corner."

"Sounds good to me" she says grabbing his hand once again and pulling herself as close as possible to Robin and placing her head on his shoulder, smiling at everything that has happened this past half hour. Then her phone starts to buzz. She pulls it out to a text from Artemis.

 _'On my way, cave empty?'_

"Crap, I forgot all about that." She said after reading the text

"Forgot about what?"

"I was supposed to get Megan and Conner out of the cave so Arty could be alone with Wally" she says worried

"I'll take care of it" he says pulling out his phone

"Hey batman, you got a quick mission to send Miss M and Superboy on, one that will only last an hour or two... I'll explain later, just tell them it's urgent and makes sure its just the two of them... cool thanks, talk to you back at the batcave."

"Where'd he send them?"

"Test to see how long it takes the bio ship to travel across the earth twice" Robin says laughing

"seriously?" she says surprised

"Hey, he likes to have fun sometimes too." Robin says alughing

"So Should we go eat?" Zatanna says finishing telling artemis the cost is clear

"lets go" He sayd offering his arm

As they walked down the street zatanna all of a sudden went wide eyed and stopped in her tracks.

"Zee?"

"Wait... if your Dick Grayson, Does that mean Batman is Bruce Wayne?" She whispers

"I was wondering when you'd make that connection" He laughed as he grabbed her hand to take her on their first date.


End file.
